06 Jun 2022

The constitution should set clear parameters on ethical conduct with the objective to safeguard the principles and virtues that form the soul of the nation.

Setting the tone for the meeting that the Presidential Commission of Inquiry into the Review of the Constitution held in his village yesterday, Kgosi Thabo Maruje III of Masunga said Botswana had of recent noted a growing deviation from its moral campus.

Kgosi Maruje III thus called for the constitution to embed ethical conduct in it, and clearly spell out what it entailed as well as state the repercussions that any deviation from it could attract.

“Ethical conduct must form part of the constitution.

The constitution must be clear and set parameters that outline, especially in respect to us leaders, what, in terms of ethical conduct, is the nation’s expectation on us.”

He observed that in addition to Batswana generally gravitating away from fighting for their common shared values, leaders at different levels were also growing increasingly disinterested in adhering to the very basics of acceptable standards of ethical conduct.

“We see leaders violating tenets of leadership; we see leaders violating their oath of allegiance.

We must go back to the drawing board; to the foundation that has built this country,” he said.

Kgosi Maruje III thereafter proposed the instituting of a human rights commission to both guarantee and fully protect the rights of citizens.

Conversely, he said the commission, if set up, should not allow deviant behaviour to creep into the nation under the guise of the enjoyment of personal liberties.

“Though the human rights commission will guarantee the rights of people, we should be wary of allowing sub-cultures to dominate our main culture.

As a nation, we should not allow ourselves to reach a point where we no longer know who we are,” he suggested.

He said it should be inculcated in Batswana’s minds that there was no harm in foregoing certain ‘pleasures’ for the overall good of the nation.

“If one demands this today and we grant it, a paedophile will the next day come and say ‘Nneele ngwana yo o six months ke mo robale’” he said, adding that all forms of deviant behaviour should, therefore, be shunned and not be allowed to form part of Botswana’ statutes.

He said the fact that libel, defamation, hate speech and accusations of the serving of sectarian interests have become  daily topics in the mouths of citizens was indicative of the need to set up a high level consultative council on leadership through which political representatives, bogosi, the church, the media and civil society would converge and engage constructively for the good of the nation.

Such a body, he opined, would help up the ante in efforts to achieve leadership of quality standards, the kind that would steer Botswana into the right direction.

In the end, Kgosi Maruje III advocated for the institution of reforms in Ntlo ya Dikgosi; putting at the apex the need for the equal representation of merafe in the house and that their respective dikgosi should stand as equals in all respects.

Also, he appealed for the restructuring of Ntlo ya Dikgosi into a three-tier structure comprising the main house, a district-level traditional house and the tribal council, which would be the gatekeeper of all matters pertaining to bogosi. ENDS